Wait patiently.

"I waited patiently for the LORD; he inclined to me and heard my cry. He drew me up from the desolate pit, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure."

(Psalm 40:1-2)

I'll admit it. I've become accustomed to the "now." I don't like waiting for things (unless it's Amazon's 2-day Prime shipping - that seems to go by quickly enough). I have enough resources and technology to accomplish pretty much whatever it is that I need to do.

So when I read the first few words of Psalm 40 this morning, it caused me to pause. "I waited patiently for the LORD..." says the Psalmist. Evidently, s/he had been through a difficult time - one that involved desolate pits, miry bogs, and crying out to God. The crying out part I get - who wouldn't? But I kept being drawn back to the "waiting patiently" part.

I'm in week 2 (day 11, to be exact) of recovering from prostate cancer surgery. This is the most "waiting" as I've had to do in a long, long time. Most of my day is spent in a recliner chair in my living room. I have lots to do there (reading, watching movies & DVR'd television shows, Scripture journaling, photo editing & watching photography tutorials, summer camp leadership prep, fantasy football season prep, video games, etc.). All of that can be done from the confines of my living room chair. Plus, I get up, walk around, do light cleaning around the house, write thank you notes for all of the kindness being poured out on us, etc. But the bottom line is I have to give my body time to get rest and recover. You could say that I'm practicing "patiently waiting."

But the Psalmist calls us to wait patiently FOR THE LORD. When we're in crisis or trouble, we're quick to cry out to God (myself included), but not always so quick to wait on God's response. In regards to my surgical recovery, there are things I probably could do now... but I've chosen to wait and allow my body to recover more fully before attempting them. As people of faith, we're often quick to move on to the "fixing/solution" part of our journey. Maybe, just maybe, a better options might be to wait. To wait on God. On God's response to our situation. And know that patiently waiting means God might not respond in the time table that we'd prefer (which is, immediately!). But if we wait... patiently... God just might open a new door or window in our lives... or fill us with His peace and forgiveness, so we can be in a better place before responding to the world around us.

Wait patiently. It might seem counter-intuitive in today's "everything now" society. But it will be so worth it.